Aureka kicks off third drill program for the year in Victoria

St Arnaud’s allure lies in its rich past and untapped potential. Mined from the mid-1850s to the early 1900s, the goldfield’s quartz reef systems yielded high-grade bounty, which Aureka hopes it can replicate over its 1500 square kilometres of tenure.

Management insists the current campaign isn’t just about chasing known gold zones, the company is also eyeing the project’s greenfields potential under the Murray Basin cover to the north, where an air core drilling program and geophysical surveys could unlock a hidden extension of the goldfield’s storied reefs.

Meanwhile, over at the Irvine project in the Stawell Corridor, a drilling program is nearing completion on targets that remain open along strike and at depth, just 20km south of the 5-million-ounce Stawell gold mine.

The Tandarra joint venture with ASX-listed gold producer Catalyst Metals wrapped up a seven-hole diamond drilling program last month in some of Victoria’s richest historic gold ground.

Tandarra is just 50km northwest of Agnico Eagle’s world-beating Fosterville operation and 40km north of the 22M-ounce Bendigo goldfields and has a past 12.9m intercept running at 33.1g/t, with a half-metre slice at a jaw-dropping 831g/t.

The ultra-high-grade Fosterville itself churned out 225,000 ounces last year at an otherworldly US$653 (A$1060) per ounce, proving that for the Victorian goldfields, grade really is king.

Aureka’s three-pronged attack – St Arnaud’s historical promise, Irvine’s advancing resource and Tandarra’s high-grade potential – comes at an opportune time in a record high gold price environment. With assay results looming from Irvine and Tandarra, and St Arnaud’s drills now turning, the next few months could prove pivotal for the revived goldie.

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